Houston Nigerian groups, radicalized members, and the lessons of Okwesilieze

“It may therefore be right to state that the “Okwesilieze Case” has broken that yoke of distinctive prodigality, irrationality, and deceit tormenting Houston Nigerian organizations. I hereby implore other organizations experiencing similar atrocities to follow suit.” ―Anthony Obi Ogbo

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Houston’s Nigerian community has been a little engaged with forum dialogs after the Texas International Guardian News ran a story update about a prolonged civil lawsuit between the Okwesilieze Women’s Club of Nigeria and a rival group formed by defecting group members “De Okwesilieze International Women’s Club”.

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The story, which was totally based on a court-endorsed mediation and settlement negotiations, emphatically stated that the said lawsuit ended in favor of the founding group, Okwesilieze Women’s Club of Nigeria. Also, the story stated that the defecting group, “De Okwesilieze, and their listed agents avoided what would have been a humiliating verdict and succumbed to mediation and settlement negotiations that completely appeased the plaintiff’s demands”.

But, yesterday, I received a strange phone call from one of the defendants (name withheld) mentioned in the case, violently questioning how there could be a loser or winner in a mediation process. Good argument, but not a smart one because the settlement speaks for itself. A mediation settlement where Plaintiff walks away with 99.9% of the demands in the original petition is indeed a slam-dunk.  That is exactly the dilemma faced by the defecting group. “De Okwesilieze.”

From a legal standpoint, mediation does not take the winner-loser approach but seeks a resolution of the dispute where the parties agree. However, mediation could also be “evaluative”, where the mediator assists the disputing parties in reaching a resolution by pointing out the weaknesses of their cases, and predicting what a judge or jury would be likely to do.

Without lectures about good or bad journalism, and without a logical analysis of the mediation process, the Defendants and their representatives in the Okwesilieze case lost woefully. Out of a long list of demands stipulated in this settlement, the below orders alone are a total humiliating defeat for these breakaways. To mention but a few, the defecting group was ordered to:

• Immediately cease to use the name “Okwesilieze” as any part of their organization’s name.
• Immediately cease to use the Plaintiffs team songs and greetings “Kwesi” as part of their Organization songs or greetings.
• shall return the Plaintiff’s organization items in the procession of the defendants
• shall pay to Plaintiff Organization the sum of $37,000.00.

So how does one explain a woeful failure? Let me make it clear, that rather than the ongoing social media winner-loser argument, the Houston community must learn from the Okwesilieze Women’s Club of Nigeria and their Founder and Leader Dr/Mrs. Gracie Gboliwe Chukwu. Dr. Chukwu had professionally hired good lawyers to institute legal action to challenge those she believed to have trespassed upon the group’s registered name, absconded with their process, and, worse, took away their funds by conversion.

This case should serve as a lesson not only to most Nigerian organizations in Houston but also to radicalized members among them who have a history of facilitating breakups and defecting with funds. This practice has been very common in this community because none of the groups have vigorously gone after these vandals.

It sounds surprising but true that in the past 15 years, organizations in the Nigerian community have lost an unprecedented amount of money to breakaway vandals who  would make the career off of community funds. Community organizations have also spent hundreds of thousands in fruitless litigations against these radicals.

It may therefore be right to state that the “Okwesilieze Case” has broken that yoke of distinctive prodigality, irrationality, and deceit tormenting Houston Nigerian organizations. I hereby implore other organizations experiencing similar atrocities to follow suit.

♦Publisher of the Guardian News, Journalism and RTF Professor, Anthony Obi Ogbo, Ph.D. is on the Editorial Board of the West African Pilot News. He is the author of the Influence of Leadership (2015)  and the Maxims of Political Leadership (2019). Contact: anthony@guardiannews.us